Means and method for cooling rails



s. B. SHELDON MEANS AND METHOD FOR COOLING RAILS Filed July 9-, 1924 wwiv- Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

v UNITED STATES SAMUEL B. SHELDON, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

MEANS AND-METHOD. FOR COOLING RAILS.

Application filed July 9.

This invention relates to a new and improved means and method for cooling rails. Due to the difference in cross sectional area and in surface area of the heads and base portions of rails, they are subjected to heavy internal stresses by rapid and unequal cooling. These stresses result in a bending of the rails and in order to compensate for this bending, ithas been the practice to camber the rails as they come from the saws. While this cambering takes care of the conformation of the rail, it does not avoid the very high internal stresses which are present in the rail.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved means and method for cooling rails whereby the rails are cooled at such rate that the temperature is reduced substantially uniformly throughout the rail area, thus minimizinginternal stresses and consequent deformation.

It is afurther ob ect to provide means and method of this character in which the cooling of the rail is under complete control and. which will be adapted for handling varying quantities of rails.

Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the means for carrying out the method of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a rail cooling furnace;

Figure 2 is an elevational section on an enlarged scale taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1 and partly broken away; and,

Figure 3 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale taken on line 33 of Figure 1.

The furnace comprises a closed chamber 11 preferably formed of suitable types of heat resisting brick. Upon opposite sides the furnace is provided with a plurality of burners 12 which are adapted to burn gas or similar fuel. Adjacent the discharge end a pair of blowers 13 are provided by means of which atmospheric air may be introduced into the furnace. The passage 14 is located above the discharge end of the furnace and is adapted to carry off the products of combustion which pass out through ports 15.

The furnace is adapted to receive rails through the entrance opening 16 and to have them discharge through opening 17. In order to prevent loss of heat these open- 1924. Serial No. 725,043;

ings may be closed by flap valves 18 and 19,

which are displaced by the movement of the rails. The rail supports 20 are provided which supports extend in through the entrance end of the furnace and out through the discharge opening. The outer ends of the rail supports 20 are inclined downwardly toward the furnace'at 21 and away from the furnace 22 at the exit end. The rail moving chains 23 are provided passing around the sprocket wheels 24 and 25. The sprocket wheels 25 are carried by the shaft 26 which is driven by pulley 27 from any suitable source of power.

In the use ofthe furnace according to my improved method, the furnace will first be heated up by the burning of gas in the burners 12. These products of combustion will pass toward the discharge end of the furnace and will pass out ports 15and passage 14. The temperature of the furnace will be regulated so that at the incoming end it is approximately that of the rails as they leave the saws, while at the outgoing end it will approach the outside atmospheric temperature.

Due to the number of burners spaced along the sides an approximately uniform variation in heat may be obtained. The various burners will be put into or out of use as is necessary to maintain this desired heat distribution. In order to cool the discharge end of the furnace, it may be desirable at times to introduce atmospheric air by means of blowers 13.

After the furnace has been heated to a suitable temperature rails will be fed into it and passed through it. The rails will pass by gravity down the inclined portion 21 of the support until they are in position to be caught by the chain lugs 23. These lugs will carry the rails through the furnace and they will pass out of the: furnace by gravity down the inclined portion 22, of the rail supports.

The speed of passage of the rails may be regulated as desired by the speed of movement of the chains 23. It will be found in operation that the heat of the rails themselves will supply much of the heat necessary to keep the furnace at the proper temperature and during the operation it may be possible to dispense entirely with gas heating for suitable period s. However, by means of the burners and the air blowers,

the temperature is at all times under control. The rails will be passed through the furnace at such speed that they gradually give up their heat and internal stresses and any cambering effect are thus minimized.

lVhile I have shown by way of illustration one form of furnace adapted to carry out my method, it is to be understood-that changes may be made to meet varying conditions and I contemplate such modifications as come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of cooling rails or the like which comprises slowly passing the rails through a closed chamber, maintaining the entrance end of the cooling chamber at approximately the temperature of the rails as they come from the rolls, by introdcuing heated gases into said chamber, passing the gases through the chamber in the direction of the movement of the rails, and cooling the gases toward the exit end of the chamber by the introduction of air into said chamber.

2. The method of cooling rails or the like which comprises slowly passing the rails through a closed chamber, maintaining the entrance end of the cooling chamber at approximtately the temperature of the rails as they come from the rolls, by introducing heated gase into said chamber, passing the gases through the chamber in the direction of the movement of the rails, and cooling the gases toward the exit end of the chamber by the introduction of air into said chamber, the gases at the exit end being reduced to approximately atmospheric temperature.

3. Apparatus for cooling rails comprising a closed chamber, means for passing rails through the chamber, burners for raising the temperature in the chamber and passages for the introduction of air to reduce the tern-- perature in the chamber.

4. Apparatus for cooling rails comprising a closedchamber, means for passing rails through the chamber, burners located at spaced points in the length of the chamber for raising the temperature in the chamber and passages adjacent the discharge end of the chamber for the introduction of air to reduce the temperature in the chamber.

5. The method of cooling rails or the like which comprises slowly passing the rails through a closed chamber, maintaining the entrance end of the cooling chamber at approximately the temperature of the rails as they come from the rolls, by introducing heated gases into said chamber, passing the gases through the chamber in the direction of the movement of the rails, withdrawing a portion of the gases before they reach the end of the chamber and coolin the gases remaining in the chamber by the introduction of air into the chamber.

6. The method of cooling rails or the like which comprises slowly passing the rails through a closed chamber, maintaining the entrance end of the cooling chamber at approximately the tem-perature of the rails as they come from the rolls, by introducing heated gases into said chamber, passing the gases through the chamber in the direction of the movement of the rails, Withdrawing a portion ofthe gases before they reach the end of the chamber and cooling-the gases remaining in the chamber by the introduction of air into the chamber, the gases at the exit end being thereby gradually reduced to approximately atmospheric temperature.

Signed at Duluth, Minnesota, this 30th day of June, 1924.

SAMUEL B. SHELDON. 

